Using the Finale Encyclopedia

This section is a musical cookbook. To your left, the volumes you see beneath this topic house "how-to" instructions arranged alphabetically by musical situation. In other words, you won't find Staff Tool, Page Layout dialog box, or HyperScribe listed as entries, because they are all terms you encounter only in Finale. To learn about those and other Finale-specific topics, consult the "Reference" section on the Navigation Pane to your left.

Instead, this section contains entries for musical elements and situations, such as Beaming, Copying Music, Rehearsal letters and so on. After a brief introduction, each entry includes at least one step-by-step tutorial; broader topics, like Rests, have several such tutorials. Following each instruction is an explanation of the step you just took, a description of Finale's response to it, or a description of an available detour to another feature. The "how-tos" are devised so that, if you are in a hurry, you can skip the editorial material and just follow the bulleted instructions step-by-step.

These steps assume some familiarity with Finale. In particular, they assume you have worked through most of the Installation and Tutorials Manual. Some of the tutorials in this section are, in fact, pared-down versions of the tutorials in the Installation and Tutorials manual. In some circumstances, then, you may learn the most by reviewing the same topic in both resources.

The Finale Encyclopedia is not meant to be a complete guide to Finale itself. Finale's flexibility allows for many approaches to a vast universe of musical styles. Although we can't cover every possibility, we've tried to anticipate as many musical problems as we could.

You will find many links to reference material, the Visual Index, and other sources. Use the Back button on your browser to return to previously viewed topics. Also note that all topics can be reached using the Table of Contents to your left, or by using the Search or Index functions.   

Here's hoping that this musical cookbook will yield some delicious results!